Warriors ousted by North Catholic … again

It was the third time in four seasons Elizabeth Forward met the Trojans in the WPIAL’s first round.

For the third time in four seasons, the Elizabeth Forward baseball team faced off with North Catholic in the first round of the playoffs.

And unfortunately for the Warriors, for the third time in the last four years they have had their season come to an end thanks to the Trojans.

The North Catholic lineup flexed its power with four home runs and starting pitcher Thomas Schafale was in a groove Wednesday afternoon, as the No. 11 Warriors fell to the No. 6 Trojans, 8-0, in the Class 4A first round at Peterswood Park.

“North Catholic is a really good team and you can’t give them anything,” EF coach Frank Champ said. “They produced enough runs for themselves, so giving them extra outs or extra pitches really killed us today. We have faced them before, and we all knew the challenge their program brings to the table.”

The Warriors (11-8) fell to the Section 4-4A champions in 2021 and 2023 in the opening round. The last time EF won a playoff game was in 2014 against Montour in the first round.

After a five-game losing streak near the middle of the season almost put things off the rail for the Warriors, EF turned its season around with a six-game winning streak entering the postseason.

“Things were low for us at one point of the season, but credit these guys for turning the season around,” Champ said. “The season could have gone the other way. But these guys were ready to fight. In that winning streak, we had a lot of good pitching with some really good defense. On offense, we put the ball in play and used our speed.”

The Trojans (14-4) advanced to the quarterfinals Monday to play either No. 3 West Mifflin or No. 14 Knoch with a site and time to be determined.

“We have a lot of power in our lineup and the long ball is definitely a big part of our offense,” NC coach Andy Przbylek said. “I just like our overall experience today. EF is a solid team and we knew they had a couple of big bodies in their lineup. We made sure we didn’t leave anything over the middle of the plate. We have seen a lot of good pitchers this spring, so I knew our lineup would be ready to hit.”

Schafale was consistent and aggressive throughout the first-round game on the rubber, only needing 69 pitches for the complete game shutout.

The senior lefty scattered four hits and only gave EF six base runners for the game with five strikeouts and no walks. Schafale did not throw more than 13 pitches in any inning in the triumph.

“We put the ball in play pretty good today, but it was just line shots right at their guys in the field,” Champ said. “Their pitcher mixed up his speeds well, but I did not think we were overwhelmed at the plate. It is just one of those games where the pitcher had our number and we were unlucky.”

EF starter, Cy Herchelroath, had a rocky start as the first five batters reached base. Schafale and Thomas Koroly drew walks and then the bases were loaded after Ryan Shantz placed down a perfect bunt.

Blake Primose and Owen Beatrice drew bases loaded walks for a 2-0 advantage. The Trojans made it 3-0 two batters later with a sacrifice fly by Anthony Sewecke.

Herchelroath threw 36 of his 91 pitches in that turbulent, first inning. The junior lefty only lasted four plus innings and allowed seven runs off six hits with five strikeouts and six free passes.

“You can’t afford to give them that many walks and fall behind in counts,” Champ said. “Cy was missing close and the zone was a little tight. It wasn’t our day. It’s tough to fall behind that early and they just stole the momentum for the rest of the game after that first inning.”

JB Crovak registered the Warriors first hit of the game with a single in the second with two outs, but was left stranded.

After the Trojans increased their edge to 4-0 with a solo home run by Josef Safer in the third, EF had their best chance to score in the top of the fourth. AJ Grese led off with a double and then Herchelroath was hit by a pitch with one out, but Schafale got out of the jam with a foul out to first base and a flyout to leftfield.

Schafale helped his own cause out at the dish with a solo homer in the fourth. The long ball parade continued for the Trojans, as Safar connected on a two-run shot in the fifth and Primose blasted a homer in the sixth.

“All the home runs are great, but we won this game with our fundamentals,” Przbylek said. “Our outfield play was outstanding today and our infield did not let anything through. I thought our pitcher and catcher was on the same page. We put together a solid game plan. I am an old school baseball game, so I do not get wrapped up in the analytics. We just played a solid, baseball game today.”

EF had a pair of runners reach late in the contest, Grese made it to first on an infield error in the sixth and Crovak led off the seventh with a double, but both was left stranded as Schafale wrapped up the postseason shutout.

Crovak pitched the final two innings in relief for the Warriors, allowing a run off three hits with two strikeouts and no walks on just 30 pitches.

“When its single elimination, sometimes you just lose when you are not at your best,” Champ said. “We can all agree that we were not at our best today. The bounces and the breaks did not go our way. But we will have some experience coming back and we will be ready for next season.”